I have a friend at work that wants a grouper rod for fishing off shore in the gulf. He wants 8' with a very sensitive tip to feel the bites and backbone to horse them to the surface. I have never built a rod like this and don't have a clue what type of blank to use. Help please.

Thanks all.

Tom

Graphite USA, 80Monster Mag, Wahoo, or if you want to save a little URS80XXH.

Nathan

SAve a little and get teh United - there is no noticeable difference between the 2. I used the URS80XH on my 2 Tortuga trips, biggest fish hooked took line for a good 20 seconds before it popped off. Some sort of Shark. LArgest fish landed were a pair of 20# Black GRouper, and a 15# Mutton. ROd handled REALLY nicely. Just have to get used to teh fast recovery of graphite.

Billy, who sells this URS80XH blank? I am not familiar with United.

Thanks
Tom

United is the same company who sells GUSA. I completely forgot to mention they are still in teh process of getting tehir stuff together, and taking a long time to fill order. If you need a rod oon, teh Calstar 800M, or 850/900M trimmed is a very good rod for this type of fishing as well. From what I've been told, it has become teh blank of choice for hardcore Dry Tortuga Party Boat fishermen on the Yankee & Fishfinder out of Key WEst.

The GUSA/United is more sensitive, but the CAlstar is defiantely an excellent choice for this type of fishing. I don't think you will go wrong with either choice.

I Have built two calstar 850m and love them caught a 85 lb grouper on it and my wife caught three gag 20 to 25 lbs on hers iam in the process of building two more for a customer i also trimed 2 inches off of the tip what a sweet stick
don danforth

Tom

I just purchased 30 of the Gator Glass T80XH's to build for some commercial grouper guys in the St. Pete area and they love 'em. They run $24.95 (from Mudhole) and really can't be beat. They may not be as sensitive as some of the graphite blanks mentioned above but grouper don't necessarily "nibble" the bait and I think strength should come before sensitivity when it comes to a good grouper rod. If you do want to spend a bit more $$$ go with the Calstar Don mentioned.

Scott

What about TROLLING rods for Grouper, using MANN's Stretch (25) plugs or Rapala's largest MAGNUM plugs? Any particular recommendations for rod BLANKS? Thanks, -Cliff+++



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2005 06:47AM by Cliff Hall.

"Trolling Rod for Gulf Grouper" was posted here on RBO in November 2001 and talked about those exact trolling plugs. I've seen you and others post links to different topics but I don't know how to do that. Help?

Mike - use the SEARCH and copy the link & paste it. I searched all essage for all dates for "TROLLING GROUPER", found 32 posts. Besides teh one yo mention, tehre ight be another 2 threas with some recommendations, so CLiff & you can go Search yourselves.

Heres the oneyou were talking about: [www.rodbuilding.org]

Thanks, Mike Kosiba & Billy Vivona-Zona.
I'm on my way! -Cliff Hall+++

[www.rodbuilding.org]
"Trolling Rod for Gulf Grouper??? [BobH Nov. 2, 2001] ... I would like to build a rod for trolling large lures made by Mann called Stretch 25+ and 30+. Essentially these lures reach depths of 30 feet or more without the need for downriggers or planers. ..."

[www.rodbuilding.org]
"Rod for trolling deep divers with Spectra [Chris Bodde Jan. 6, 2005] ... I need a saltwater trolling rod to pull plugs like Mann Stretch 25's and 30's on 65 lb spectra for grouper and snapper. I use Penn Senator 113H's for this. Most of the rods I've seen for this are about 6'6" with fairly flexible tips and stiff midsections. I'd like to do a spiral wrap if I could. ... Questions are as follows: "



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2005 01:33PM by Cliff Hall.